5 easy manicures to do this week

The weekend beckons with its siren call of shopping, luncheons, soirees and night outs .One needs to put their best foot forward in terms of style to dazzle at these events. We always dress up to the nines with our clothes and matching accessories but we tend to neglect our nails. Nails can actually lend that extra edge or x- factor and snazzy nails can make you the talk of the town.

Here we are enumerating 5 easy designs that will add a spring to your style

• Fizzy Fun/ Dots – The concept and execution is simple A nice shade as a base coat and once dry use nail tools or even toothpicks to make dots. Seal with a top coat. This link makes clever use of a common office staple. Try it ….

(Image courtesy http://thebeautydepartment.com/2012/09/new-favorite-2/)

•  Half Moon nails – An easy and snazzy manicure .The possibilities are endless and you can make it as glittery or as sedate as you want .All you need is a base coat and using some reinforcement stickers paint a darker shade in a half moon shape. This is an excellent tutorial.

(Image courtesy http://the-coveted.com/blog/2011/07/19/easy-diy-half-moon-manicures/)

• French Manicure but not the same old white tipped – The beauty world is awash with the endless possibilities of a different tipped manicure. All you need is a bright shade as a base coat and an even more eye-popping shade for the nail tip. You can use stickers or paper cutouts to achieve perfect tips. This link has a step by step tutorial

(Image courtesy http://www.studs-and-pearls.com/2011/12/diy-manicure-easy-french-manicure.html)

• Striped Nails – They looks complex but are relatively simple to pull off if you use nail tapes or even French manicure strips. The key is to cut the strips cleanly and seal with a top coat. This is an excellent tutorial

(Image courtesy http://thebeautydepartment.com/2012/01/mani-monday/)

• Caviar Manicure – This is the newest and the hottest trend right now. Very impractical but so jazzy for a night out. All you need is a base coat and then use micro-beads. You need to pour the beads on to the still wet base coat. Better be prepared with a container to catch the flow of beads .Clean-up is also easy. This is an excellent tutorial

(Image courtesy http://www.thepolishaholic.com/2012/03/look-for-less-ciates-caviar-manicure.html)

This is a post for www.stylekarma.com.

 The link for the original post is  http://www.stylekarma.com/blog/?p=67

Ready set for Summer - your summer essentials in a bag

Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood so what are you doing sitting at home? Its summertime and the beach , the parks and the outdoors beckon.During the summer its a big whirlwind of activity where you have day trips and sometimes overnight trips where the common thing is that you are away from the hum drum and your home.Do you often feel that you've forgotten something and wish that you had a go to essentials bag to help you in your day trips? Here is the answer.This is my go to bag that I keep in my diaper bag and It has served me well.depending on your needs you can subtract and add  but here is a list of my summer essentials 

1. A pretty bag - Tada... Get a bag which is pretty and fairly roomy.It should be thick enough to absorb any spills or swipes and the zipper can be attached to a hook in your bag.Here is mine .It Looks pretty feminine.

2. Face Cleansing Wipes - These are a must and do double duty for the parents and the kiddos.Make sure that they are alcohol free and relatively gentle for faces.I use "Simple facial  cleansing wipes" in a travel size.I cannot emphasize the convenience of travel sized on such a trip.These wipes are kind to the skin and that's soo true.Gentle enough for me and the kiddo.The lack of frou frou ingredients defines its moniker. It contains added vitamins and helps nourish your skin.The wipes are gentle enough to remove make up from your face and eyes.They are perfect for sticky toddler faces as well.

3. Moisturizing Lotion - This is good for dryness or slight scrapes.Again choose a simple moisturizer without any fancy ingredients.My go to travel sized is the "Nivea Extended Moisturizer ".Its perfect for extra softness and nourishment of the skin

4.Facial Cleanser - A must must must. There are summer days where all the dirt and dust comes to rest on your skin and the toddler seems to have a diaper accident and even rolls in the mud like a pig. This comes to your rescue.Try to use a double duty cleanser for you and the kids. My go to is the "Neutrogena Visibly Bright ".It includes vitamin C and with its special formula dissolves skin- dulling impurities and hence the skin looks brighter and less tired .This is a boon specially after a long day of fun

5.Sun screen -This is the most essential item in your bag so make sure you choose wisely.You cannot forget this and since you need to reapply .Choose wisely and choose ones that are mostly water repellent.I use the "Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen , SPF 70 ".Its water proof, dries to the touch and has SPF 70 .It delivers very high ,very broad and photo stable protection. Like all sunscreens it dries on a little white but it does the job.I like it.

This covers all my essentials and then you can add anything you want .I even added some nail polish remover pads for little manicure related accidents .I recommend the "Cutex one step pads"  mainly cause they are ones I found.I like the fact that they are compact.

So what are you waiting for? pack it up and let the fun begin......